While yoga isn’t a sport, the rules of exercise physiology apply all the same, which means that you can get over-trained, under-recovered and generally burnt out just like any other athlete. Sadly, I think this phenomenon is quite prevalent especially in Los Angeles, where many people think of yoga as a workout rather than a tool for self-care. Despite teachers’ best efforts, the class environment can get somewhat competitive, the “more is more” mentality takes over, and students can get hurt from either pushing too hard in a specific pose, or simply never allowing themselves a mellower practice. Taking a break from the achievement-oriented mindset will obviously help with this (easier said than done, I know), but there’s also some easy things we can incorporate into our asana practice to make sure we don’t physically burn ourselves out. Let’s make longevity the focus of our asana practice, rather than chasing the arbitrary goal of a fancy pose, shall we? Muscular balance is the key, and I broke down the basics in my latest piece on Yoga Journal. This isn’t intended to be a complete guide by any means; instead, use these seven poses as a launching pad for exploration of what you can do to enhance your practice in the long run. Click here for the full article 🙂